Indicator for sausage-stuffing machines.



'l 'y 'UNITED STATES ,PATENT QFFIGE.

HANS ERNST, or MNSTER, GERMANY.

INDICATOR FoR-sAUsAGE-STUFFING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1906.

Application mea May 25,1904.' serai No. 209,744.

To alll whom it may concern:

\ Be it known that I, HANS ERNST, a subject ofthe Kingof Prussia, GermanEmperor, re-

siding at Mnster, in the Province of Westphalia, Kingdom'r of Prussia,and German Empire, have invented certain.v new and useful mprovements inIndicators for Sausage- Stufiing Machines', of which the following is aA speciiication.

i' 'mince-meat or the like has been filled into the screw-spindle Thepresent invention relates to apparatus for Jfitting to `machines forfilling or stuffing sausages, the purpose of which is to indicate when adefinltepredetermined quantity of intestine, so that sausages turned outby the machine may all be of exactly the same weight.

One form of construction of the new appa- `ratus is' shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which-,-

vFigure 1 is a side'elevation of the device applied to asausage-stufiing machine with vertical cylinder. Fig. 2 is asideelevation of the indicating device alone, drawn to an enlargedscale. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of 'the same seen in the .directionof the arrow,`

Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section vtaken on the line A Bof Fig. l and shows adetail to be' hereinafter referred to.

The new device can be iitted to any ordi-` nary sausage-stuifer providedthat means are furnished for transmitting'to the devicethe motion of thepistonemployed for forcing the meat into the gut and Vfor enablingfitting of the adjustment device for the determination of the weight. Yi

The improved apparatus is, by way of eX- by means of driven by hand orby belt-pulley. The shaft is mounted in the frame of the machine and inthe collar d and can be continuously driven. This shaft imparts motionto the disk c by means of the friction-roller d, which is pressedagainst the friction-disk c b the friction-disk e.. To this purpose alin t is pivoted to the hub of said disk e, the other kthe-frame of themachinea, which disk c again is driven the friction-roller d of a shaftkend of said link being pivoted to the arm u of a lever i), fulcrumed onthe frame of the machine in such a manner that upon depressing the saidlever v the disk eis raised by means of the link t to such an extentthat it will press the roller d against the friction-disk c. y This alsocauses the friction-roller g, carried by the shaft f, which is mountedin the same manner as the shaft of the roller d, to come in contact withthe disk c. The vroller g will thusbe set in rotation, which motion willbe transmitted to the pinion h, keyed to the end of the shaft f, whichprojects beyond the framing, The pinion h is designed to mesh atintervals with the toothed Wheel i, mounted on The wheel Il may be.suitably balanced by means of a counterweight or the like, so that onbeing released from the pinion 7L it always returns automatically to itsposition of rest, Fig. 3. inthe particular construction shown in thedrawings the toothed wheel t' is for this purpose shown as being castwith a web of metal between two of the spokes. To this wheel i one endof a spring-arm 7c is secured, atthe other end of which a roller Z and aclapper m are provided.

Between the wheel-i and the frame of the I machine a stationarysegmental plate n is arranged having a curved inclined track 0, runningin the manner of a screw-threadrelatively to the shaft of the wheel i. Agong p is also vprovided on the segment fit. For a purpose to bedescribed the track o at the gong p rises somewhat above the level'ofthe segment n, while the other end lies at the same level as the latter.The part which holds the track o and the gong p is secured by means of athumb-nut which works in a slot r, so 'as to admit o vadjustment of thearts.

The friction-roller'g slides on the shaft f, whichis provided withgroove and feather for the purpose. The forked end of a rods,

.Figs 1 and 4, engages 1n an annular groove in the roller g, whereby the-position of the roller on the shaft f can be adjusted.

IOO

The operation of the apparatus is as foll lows: By raising the disk ethe friction-disk c and the roller g are set in rotation, and at thesame time the pinion h, `being mounted on the shaft f, engages with thewheel t and rotates in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3.

'The wheel fi will thus also be rotated and the roller Z caused to runon the track o, and since ITO . terial allows it to ass.

the arm 7c is of resilient material the roller, Z is able toascend thesaid track. When the roller Z has thus reached the end of the track 0,it will, owing to the resilience of the armle, suddenly snap down, andthe clapper m will strike the gong p, thus giving an audible signal. Thedevice for feeding the mince-meat into the gut can now be brought out ofoperation and the filled gut closed. On stoppage of the filling devicethe wheel i will return, as already described, to its initial position,the rollerv l running freely below the first part of the track o, (whichnear the gong p is elevated, and then forcing its way along beneath therest of the track, which being-of resilient maj Thus the ringing of thebell signals t at a definite quantity of mince-meat has been fed intothe intestine from the Supply-Cylinder @Wine to. the roller g beingcapable of adjustment on the shaft f by ythe aid of the rod s a largeror smaller quantity of mince-meat can be fed from the Cylinder int@ thegut, depending upon the weight required. Since the exact moment when thebell rings depends upon the speed of rotation of the pinion t-that is tosay, of the friction-roller g-and since the speed of rotation of thelatter again depends upon its distance from the ,center of the disk lci,itis obvious that this disk will only execute a larger Vor smaller partof a rotation b efore the bell rings. If the-roller gis located quitenear the center of the disk c, thelatter will make almost a completerotation before the bell rings. If, von the contrary, the roller g islocated Inear the periphery of the disk c the bell will ring when thedisk c has made only about one-sixth to one-seventh of a rotation.Since, however, it is upon the 'extent o f rotation lof :the l.disk cthat the quantity of mincemeat fed into the gut Iis dependent, it isobvious .that the weight Iofeach sausage can in this manner beaccurately determined. The requisite position of the roller g for anydesired Weight Of mince-,meet ,can fb@ .reedlyescertained byexperiment,and the Arod can in this lmanner be `marked with a scale ofjweights.

The volume `of a given weight of ymincemeat naturallytdepends upon thepercentage .of-fat and the finenessto which the vmeat has been chopped,&c., so that the time required bythe piston to feed a given weightofmeat into the gut will vary. For they urpose of compensating for vrthisy.the inclinedp track 0 is made adjustable, and ascale is also providedon the segment, the divisions of `.which correv adjusta spond to thevarious sage.

The arrangement of a piston having a screw-threaded rod on which twodisks are revolubly mounted, one of which is constructed to engage the'thread on the rod, and an ble roller between the disks adapted to`contact with them, as described' herein, has been claimed in myapplication, Serial No. 209,74a1ed May 25, 1904.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In a sausage-stuffing machine, the combination with a frame, a maindriving-shaft and an intermediate shaft mounted therein, in the sameplane, and frictional driving mechanism between the two shafts,including a roller longitudinally adjustable along said intermediateshaft, of a rotary body mounted on said frame and having a springarm, agong o n the frame, and means for threwing the intermediate shaft intoand out of gear with lthe rotary body.

2. In a sausage-stufng machine, the combination with a frame, a maindriving-shaft and an intermediateshaft mounted therein, in the sameplane, and fiict'ional driving mechanism between the two shafts,including a roller longitudinallyadjustable along intermediate shaft, ofa rotary body diierent kinds of sausai mounted on said frame and havinga s )ringarm, a gong on the frame, means for tlirowing the intermediateshaft into and out of gear with the rotary body, and an inclined trackfor the said spring-arm to'travel' along.

3. In a sausage-stuffmg'machine, the combination with a frame, a maindriving-shaft and an intermediate shaft mounted therein, in the sameplane, and frictional driving mechanism between the two shafts,including a roller longitudinally adjustable along said intermediateshaft, of a rotary body mounted on said frame and having a s )ringarm, agong on the frame, means for t irowling' the intermediate Ashaft intoand out of gear with the rotary body and an inclined track for the saidspring-arm to travel alon `both the gong and the track being adjustableon a supporting-bracket. i

In testimony whereof I have signed my yname to this specification Vthepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

I I HANS ERNST. Witnesses: i i

GUsTAv ELsNER, WILHELM KNEPBERS.

